Ancient Polynesians probably didn’t reach the shores of South America, an analysis of ancient chicken DNA from islands dotting the Pacific suggests.

Between about 3,400 and 700 years ago, Polynesians settled the islands of the Pacific, carrying plants and food animals with them. Researchers have used DNA from pigs, chickens and rats to help trace the people’s island-hopping path.

One study of chicken DNA had suggested that Polynesians reached South America sometime before Columbus. Now Vicki ...